A Utah Man I Am!

Alright.  It's official.  Like for real this time though.  We are STAYING in UTAH!! We gave the dean of ASU way too long and it never ended up working out, so we realized Utah is the best place for us for so many reasons.  I'm thrilled!  As much as I would have loved to spend some time outside of Utah, this means I get to keep my family, I get to keep my job, my husky won't die because of heat stroke, and one of the most exciting.. we get to buy a house!!  Cody has been talking to a realtor friend and we are just starting the process!

I am starting to enjoy my job more and more.  It was really scary to get used to the idea of me being the nurse in charge instead of having the nurse to report to when things got out of the norm.  But I've learned a lot, and I'll just say, through many experiences of having the patient that isn't doing too hot, I feel confident that I can handle just about anything on the maternal/newborn unit.  Put me on med/surg, you have a whole new set of insecurities, but for now I feel safe on my mom/baby floor.  I'm excited that I get to keep working here for a while because the learning opportunites as a nurse never stop.  However, I hate night shifts.  I can't get over how much I hate night shifts.  The hate for night shifts I have grows each time I work one.  They will be the death of me.

Cody started a new job last week at a place called Onset Financial.  Basically, he calls all these super rich CEO's of really big companies and tries to get them to finance big purchases for their company through his company.  I know, sounds like a lot of "spam" work to me too.  BUT.  I'm telling you, he gets so much at his job.  He get food catered for lunch three times a week (Kneaders, Chipotle, Dominos, Barbacoa, Firehouse Subs), plus he came home with new clothes already... from work! Ya, I think they definitely make up for the tough parts of the job.  He seems to enjoy it there, for the most part.  He will only be working until August when he starts law school.  Once law school hits, he will only be a full time student!

House hunting, house hunting, I'm so excited to go house hunting!  Now if only I could convince the Property Brothers to come to Utah and do a house for me, my life would be complete.  But until then, enjoy some of my recent adventures with my iPhone.

My good ol' high school friend Bryson got married! And his wedding reception was just beautiful! Congrats Bryson and Kim!

Ya.  My mom's puppy is super cute.  And they ended up naming her Tootsie!

Any husky owner needs to also own this vacuum.  My apartment would be lost is husky hair forever without this thing.

Cody and I go golfing.  A lot.  And I have pink golf clubs so that makes it okay.

I love my husband.  He cooks me hot dogs a lot and I really love hot dogs.  Plus he looks super cute grilling.



Did I mention I love my husband?  He goes grocery shopping with me.  And we have a lot of fun when we go...



Okay, these aren't from the iPhone.  We got our wedding pictures finally!! And I love them.  I forced myself to only post two pictures here otherwise the list of pictures would NEVER end.  I put many more on facebook, so look there.

Yep.  Temple wedding picture that every little girl dreams of having.  This one is mine.

Decision, Decisions...

Oh how ironic it becomes when you feel you've made an important decision and then all of a sudden all the factors that lead you to that decision totally change and you're back to square one.

This whole where is Cody going to go to law school charade is wearing on me.  We thought we had made a decision.  Utah it was.  And then, as the universe plans, everything changes.  Cody, the next day, got a phone call from ASU stating they wanted to offer him $20,000 the first year and $10,000 the second year to go to their school. 

Awesome.  No really, it is totally awesome.  It just makes the decision that much harder. Arizona as it stands still will cost just a little bit more money the first year, but it's close enough that it pulls on Cody's heart strings a lot since it's where he really wants to go.

It's where I really wanted to go also until a few days after that call.  I started thinking about actually packing up and moving to Arizona.  And I started freaking out.  Where will we live?  Will we have enough money to afford this?  How much money do I have to pay my work for the contract I signed and will be breaking?  Will I be able to find a job there?  What do we do if I can't find a job since Cody can't work during school?  How will leaving all of my family and friends behind feel?  Am I going to be totally alone with knowing no one and Cody having to spend so much time at school?  Ya, I'm freaking out.

I didn't realize this decision was as big of a decision as it really is.  I thought it was going to be all fun and games picking where to live for the next three years.  So far, it's not very fun.  Some days it's put strain on Cody and I as we try to discuss logically instead of over emotionally how we both feel.  He says prayers.  I say prayers.  We say prayers together.

We have to decide by April 30th.  That's when ASU needs to know for their scholarship offer.  I think my biggest fear is my job.  I got my first RN job in January and had to sign a year contract.  If I break it, I have to pay a whole lot of money.  But even worse, I'm scared about being able to find an RN job in Arizona.  Without a full year worth of experience, many people don't want to hire you.  The reason I got hired here in Utah is because I worked for the same company as a CNA for many years.  What do I have going for me as the newbie from a different state and very little experience? 

I feel bad because I know Cody fully has his heart set on Arizona.  He's been talking about living there for months and months.  Now that that is a real possibility, there's nothing else on his mind.  I've been excited about a lot of it too and trying to repress some of the fears I feel about it, but there's only so long I can hold those fears in. 

I want to do what's best for us.  What is the best school for Cody to go to?  Where is the best place for us to live the first three years of our marriage?  What kind of impact will both places have on our relationship, families, jobs, and lives in general?  I wish I knew the answers to all of this.  I guess praying and praying more is on the adgenda coming here soon. 

I'm very grateful to be able to spend so much time with my husband.  I love him more than I have words to say.  All these huge decisions are just a reality check of being married.  "Married" can be hard sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.  Things will work out.  We will figure out what/where is best for us.  And whatever we decide, I know we will love.

A little flash of our week this week...

We went to Ikea and found a new bedframe for our new memory foam mattress.  Cody mostly put it together because the first part of the bed I tried to help with, I broke.  But we totally love the bed, especially the memory foam and especially king sizeeee.



And the dogs probably love the bed as much as we do.



Cody got rear ended by a police officer.  A dog ran out into the street and let just say... the cop may have been following a little too closely.